UAA Soccer

[SierraFD3soccer]

Paul,

this year, most all of the UAA did poorly out of conference, this caused the Strength of schedule for UAA to fall across the board and then the in-conference games didn't carry any significance nationally.

the opposite was true for NESCAC, all did well out of conference so then they all are beating each other and getting bonuses for quality wins.

UAA needs to be better in the first part of the season if they hope to go another 20 years with getting multiple bids (last time with one bid was 2004).

I know this isn't the test but I wonder if most folks think Wesleyan and Hamilton are better than or at least equal to every single UAA.  Remember, if not for an AQ, UAA would have had zero.  Rochester, for example, finished just about where they always do...9-4-4 (3-2-2) with their usual well above average non-conference schedule.

Will it take the UAA teams a number of years till it becomes a premier conference again?  Can it be fixed by scheduling and winning against top out of conference teams?  For instance, with W&L's scheduling and success, it could be argued that it has dragged ODAC to a two or three team qualifier?

[Kuiper]

Paul,

this year, most all of the UAA did poorly out of conference, this caused the Strength of schedule for UAA to fall across the board and then the in-conference games didn't carry any significance nationally.

the opposite was true for NESCAC, all did well out of conference so then they all are beating each other and getting bonuses for quality wins.

UAA needs to be better in the first part of the season if they hope to go another 20 years with getting multiple bids (last time with one bid was 2004).

I know this isn't the test but I wonder if most folks think Wesleyan and Hamilton are better than or at least equal to every single UAA.  Remember, if not for an AQ, UAA would have had zero.  Rochester, for example, finished just about where they always do...9-4-4 (3-2-2) with their usual well above average non-conference schedule.

Will it take the UAA teams a number of years till it becomes a premier conference again?  Can it be fixed by scheduling and winning against top out of conference teams?  For instance, with W&L's scheduling and success, it could be argued that it has dragged ODAC to a two or three team qualifier?

The UAA's status as a multi-bid conference was artificially boosted by the Regional Ranking system of selection. It was unique among conferences in having teams in several different regions, some of which were fairly weak or lesser populated in men's soccer.  That meant that a lot of UAA teams were regionally ranked pretty regularly by the time they got to conference play and UAA teams had several chances to amass wins against regionally ranked opponents that simply were not available to teams during conference play in conferences where all teams were part of the same region.  Those wins against ranked teams were like the Quality Win Bonuses of today's NPI and few conferences had teams with the travel budgets to compete with the UAA in racking them up.

Under the NPI, UAA is going to have to adjust its scheduling in non-conference games in order to survive as a high-achieving conference.  It no longer has a built-in advantage over other conferences.  Indeed, it now has a built-in disadvantage because the back-loaded conference schedule requires them to find a lot of early non-conference games, which might be harder to do when they don't have something to offer like a regionally ranked win prospect. Now, it's just the risk of a loss against a team that might not be highly ranked for NPI purposes. 

My guess is UAA will pivot from strong early schedules to more of a mix of finding wins in the first half of the season before conference play.  Although the NPI was ostensibly structured by the Men's Soccer Committee to encourage strong scheduling, the reality is that if you are in a conference with strong teams, you may be better off scheduling primarily weaker non-conference opponents, with a few teams playing strong local opponents mixed in that they can beat, like NESCAC does for the most part, knowing that if everyone arrives to conference games with good records, they're going to amass NPI points during conference play.  It's the strong teams in weak conferences that need to find better opponents to guard against missing out completely if they are upset in the conference tournament.

[deutschfan]

Ignominious end for the UAA with Emory being shut down in first round. Chicago has to be biggest disappointment from national champ in 2022 to sub .500 in two years. After the Emory loss the coaching staff mentioned in their press release the possibility of a NCAA bid. After the Wash U loss the coaching staff declined to even issue a recap of the game. That was total sour grapes.

[Hopkins92]

Paul,

this year, most all of the UAA did poorly out of conference, this caused the Strength of schedule for UAA to fall across the board and then the in-conference games didn't carry any significance nationally.

the opposite was true for NESCAC, all did well out of conference so then they all are beating each other and getting bonuses for quality wins.

UAA needs to be better in the first part of the season if they hope to go another 20 years with getting multiple bids (last time with one bid was 2004).

I know this isn't the test but I wonder if most folks think Wesleyan and Hamilton are better than or at least equal to every single UAA.  Remember, if not for an AQ, UAA would have had zero.  Rochester, for example, finished just about where they always do...9-4-4 (3-2-2) with their usual well above average non-conference schedule.

Will it take the UAA teams a number of years till it becomes a premier conference again?  Can it be fixed by scheduling and winning against top out of conference teams?  For instance, with W&L's scheduling and success, it could be argued that it has dragged ODAC to a two or three team qualifier?

The UAA's status as a multi-bid conference was artificially boosted by the Regional Ranking system of selection. It was unique among conferences in having teams in several different regions, some of which were fairly weak or lesser populated in men's soccer.  That meant that a lot of UAA teams were regionally ranked pretty regularly by the time they got to conference play and UAA teams had several chances to amass wins against regionally ranked opponents that simply were not available to teams during conference play in conferences where all teams were part of the same region.  Those wins against ranked teams were like the Quality Win Bonuses of today's NPI and few conferences had teams with the travel budgets to compete with the UAA in racking them up.

Under the NPI, UAA is going to have to adjust its scheduling in non-conference games in order to survive as a high-achieving conference.  It no longer has a built-in advantage over other conferences.  Indeed, it now has a built-in disadvantage because the back-loaded conference schedule requires them to find a lot of early non-conference games, which might be harder to do when they don't have something to offer like a regionally ranked win prospect. Now, it's just the risk of a loss against a team that might not be highly ranked for NPI purposes. 

My guess is UAA will pivot from strong early schedules to more of a mix of finding wins in the first half of the season before conference play.  Although the NPI was ostensibly structured by the Men's Soccer Committee to encourage strong scheduling, the reality is that if you are in a conference with strong teams, you may be better off scheduling primarily weaker non-conference opponents, with a few teams playing strong local opponents mixed in that they can beat, like NESCAC does for the most part, knowing that if everyone arrives to conference games with good records, they're going to amass NPI points during conference play.  It's the strong teams in weak conferences that need to find better opponents to guard against missing out completely if they are upset in the conference tournament.

Solid explainer, kuiper.

[Kuiper]

Cross-posting from the 2025 Schedules thread.  A couple of UAA school schedules have dropped.  At least from these two schools, I'm not seeing the shift to a few more easy non-conference wins that you might expect now that the UAA needs to build their records up before conference play and can't rely upon regional ranking points.  It may be that some of these new opponents were set up before the NPI system or they think that they actually need more solid non-conference opponents because they can't count on the UAA opponents to be strong enough.

Rochester

Hosts Cortland to open the season and then four straight away games. Only difference in opponents between this season and last is they replace Stevens with York and Oswego State.  The big difference in UAA play is that they had only three games at home last season, where they were 6-0-3, and only one after Oct 12 and they have four at home in 2025, all of which are Oct. 18 or later.  They had the best overall record in the UAA last season, but the late season UAA losses/ties are what prevented them from getting the NCAA bid (their only win in their last four conference games was the only one they played at home).

Brandeis

Drops Vassar, Union, Western New England, and Eastern Connecticut State and picks up Coast Guard, Regis, Wesleyan, John Carroll, and Anna Maria.  Seems fairly similar, depending upon how good Wesleyan and John Carroll are this year.

[kansas hokie]

The shift in Emory's schedule certainly appears to be moving in the direction of more wins. There's four top 60 NPI OOC matches (once Oglethorpe is scheduled) and the rest of OOC opponents are under 150 (more wins, less ties/upsets). Gone are the 60-100 teams that are closer in strength. Overall, the UAA needs to do much better in OOC if there's a chance to go back to multiple at-large bids. Last year was first in 25 years with just one UAA team in NCAA, we'll see what this year brings.

[DagarmanSpartan]

CWRU's schedule is out.

https://athletics.case.edu/sports/mens-soccer/schedule

The out of conference schedule consists mostly of Ohio and Western PA small colleges.  Nothing too strenuous.

Although several of the teams have changed, the Spartans basically used that same scheduling strategy last season as well.

And did better out of conference than in conference.

[Kuiper]

With the ODAC announcement, I thought it was worth posting the UAA announcement here, just in case anyone missed it.  We're getting to the point where it's probably not if, but when, your conference is going to sign with Flo for the majority of conferences.

FloSports and UAA sign exclusive media rights deal

FloSports and the University Athletic Association (UAA) have entered into an exclusive five-year media rights agreement that will begin in the fall of 2025, bringing eight elite universities to the FloCollege platform. Through the agreement, FloSports will provide a global platform to live stream over 650 regular-season and postseason events annually. The partnership further reinforces FloSports commitment to supporting Division III athletics adding a sixth to the FloCollege portfolio and the 15th NCAA conference to the platform.

The UAA is composed of eight prestigious member institutions and is the only DIII conference where all members are elite research institutions, they include: Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Emory University, New York University (NYU), University of Chicago, University of Rochester, and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU).

"I speak on behalf of all eight UAA institutions when I say how excited we are to partner with FloSports and bring UAA content to FloCollege," commented Sarah Otey, Commissioner of the UAA. "UAA student-athletes are second to none in their academic and athletic successes – and we are grateful to have a streaming network that will give us an opportunity to appropriately promote them. This agreement will allow our institutions to ensure they can stream UAA competition and promote the UAA brand in a manner that best reflects the exceptional nature of our UAA student-athletes."

[Kuiper]

I'll post some roster analyses/season previews as they become available and I have time.

Chicago

Uncharacteristically weak season for Chicago, finishing 7-8-3 (2-2-3 in the UAA) and missing the NCAA tournament after starting the season 5-1.  They lose a lot of key parts, including the last key contributing links to their NCAA title run in 2022.  They still have significant talent, but the question is whether Philip Kroft can properly take advantage of that talent so they can get back to the consistency of the last decade or so.

Transfers: 

Charlie Wagner is a D3 transfer from Colorado College who had eligibility because he missed his freshman year due to injury.  A 6'2" midfielder/defender and 2-time All-SCAC selection in his two years of action at Colorado College, he played 37 games and started 34 of them over the last two years (although he went out with an injury early in the NCAA game against Pacific Lutheran and missed the second round game against CMS).  Given his high-level experience, including in the NCAA tournament, he could be an impact player for the Maroons if he's healthy.  He certainly shouldn't have trouble adjusting to the UAA travel schedule after playing with Colorado College.

Louis Bock is a D1 transfer from Coastal Carolina who is originally from Luxembourg.  A 6'6" defender who played 33 games, starting 15, during his time there.  He was named Male Scholar Athlete of the Year at Coastal Carolina in 2023-2024, so I'm not surprised he graduated early and decided to spend his last year of eligibility at Chicago getting a Master's in Finance.  You never know how much D1 transfers are going to be focused on soccer when they come to DIII for a grad degree, but he certainly will add a size dimension for the Chicago defense.

Recruits:

D Eli Weene (6'1") - Los Angeles, CA, LA Breakers ECNL
F Giovanni Casselli (6'3") - London, England, City of London HS
D Vaughn DeRath (5'10") - Okemos, MI, Michigan Wolves MLS Next (formerly Columbus Crew Academy)
M William Stewart (5'10") - Atlanta, GA, Southern SA MLS Next
M Drake Wenger (5'6") - Jacksonville, FL, Jacksonville Armada MLS Next (formerly Orlando City Academy)

Key departures:

They lose leading scorer Danny Mendoza, but he only had 7 goals and 4 of them were scored very early in the season in blowouts against Kalamazoo and North Central.  Biggest losses are most of the last contributors to the national championship run, including Lyndon Hu, who was a fixture in the midfield the last 4 years, starting 79 of 84 games in which he played, including during Chicago's national championship run.  He was second in the team in minutes played last year behind GK Dhirpal Shah, who also graduated.  Other key '22'ers departing include Jack Leuker, who was another key fixture on defense and, like Hu, started 79 of 84 games he played over 4 years and was UAA defensive player of the year in 2023 and midfielder Robbie Pino, who departs after finishing a disappointing grad year that was cut short by injury.   

[Kuiper]

Roster analysis/season preview

Washington University

Wash U went 8-5-3 in Andrew Bordelon's first season after taking over from Joe Clarke, who retired after 28 years at the school.  The program was adrift a little when Clarke retired, qualifying for the NCAA tournament only once since 2016 - in 2021 - and finishing .500 or below every season during that period except 2019, when they were 8-7-1.  So, from that perspective, the 2024 season was a positive sign in that it was the second best record for the program in the last seven years. The most impressive victory was a 2-0 win over then-#14 Ohio Northern.  They have a schedule built for success as well as a strong set of returning defenders.  They just need to generate offense against the tougher teams and get more than two wins in the UAA.

Key Departures:

The only offensive contributor who departs is grad student Jesus Tadeo, a Rhodes transfer who had 2 goals and 4 assists last season in a role off the bench.  On defense, they lose grad student Cole Hutson, who started 8 games.  Perhaps the most meaningful loss was midfielder Eugene Heger, a two-time All UAA honorable mention player who started 14 of 16 games and had 2 goals and 2 assists. 

Key returners:

The Bears had 4 players on the All UAA teams in 2024 and all four return:  Quentin Gomez (D), who was named the UAA Defensive Player of the Year and 1st team All UAA, Zach Susee (F), who was the leading scorer and assist man in 2024 and was also 1st team All UAA, as well as two honorable mention all UAA players - Nathan Szpak (D) and Carter Sasser (D).

Freshman:

14 freshman, which seems like a pretty massive haul for a program that only had 7 seniors/grad students last season.  It suggests Coach Bordelon is planning on upgrading or at least making the team deeper and more competitive at a bunch of positions.

[Kuiper]

Third installment of the Roster Analyses/Season Previews:

Rochester

Rochester had a decent record last season at 9-4-4, but they suffered from the general down year of the UAA, where a winning record at 3-2-2 wasn't going to be good enough to win the auto bid or to qualify under the NPI.  They have some talent returning, but they also have some question marks. 

Key Returners:

First team all UAA and second team all region MF Milos Bisenic is the most critical returner, having scored 5 goals (including 3 game winning ones) and contributed 4 assists last season.  Grad student and Skidmore transfer Kamal Ibrahim, who was the second leading scorer last season and a second team All-UAA player, also returns and plays a big role up top.  They weren't a prolific offense, but with rising sophomore Johnny Makula and rising junior Alessio Cristanetti-Walker, they have continuity and depth up top.

Key Departures: 

While they will have vets on offense, they have some glaring holes on defense.  GK Santino Lupica-Tondo, a four-year starter and All-UAA players, departs and they really never developed a goalkeeper to take over for him.  Last season, he played every single minute.  The only returning goalkeeper with any college experience is Hamilton transfer Ben Ziegler, who played 1 game at Hamilton in 2023 before getting injured and didn't play at all in 2024.  He did have 24 starts in 2021 and 2022 and was decent, so they may be hoping he is healthy and can fill the GK shoes while they develop a homegrown GK.  Making things worse, they lose defender Jeremiah Anandarajah, who started all 17 games last season and was second in minutes to only Lupica-Tondo.  Kol Bassuk may have to pick up the slack on the backline.  They also lose first team All UAA midfielder Nick Swanger.

Transfers/Grad students:

No transfers for the first time in a few years, but they do have Ziegler, Ibrahim, and regular MF starter Tyler Moran returning for grad years.

Freshman:

They have 8 freshman coming in to replace the 7 players who left.  Surprisingly, it doesn't look like any of them are goalkeepers, which will leave only one GK on the roster next year, which suggests they will be bringing in some in the next recruiting class.

[Kuiper]

Carnegie Mellon

CMU was 8-4-5 last season, notching some good wins, such as against Ohio Wesleyan, but really had trouble away from home, finishing 2-2-5, compared with 6-2 at home.  Ties against Wash U, Chicago, and Case Western basically summed up the UAA's problems last season and why only the champion got the auto bid.  I like the team's possession style, but I don't think they have the strikers to make it work when they get to the final third.  How they do this year may depend upon whether they found any new ones for the team.

Key Departures:

Leading scorer and point getter Jake Slackman graduates (10g/2a), as does 2nd team All UAA defender Eli Kampine, who started almost every game on the backline for the team over the last two seasons.  Other regular starters who have departed are defender Dallan Schoenberger and midfielder Robert Lloyd, both of whom were graduate students and brought a lot of experience to the team.

Key Returners:

Midfielder Tristan Gonzalez returns for his sophomore year after being named UAA Rookie of the Year and 2nd team All UAA.  They also return a number of starters on the backline, including Brendan Schonwetter, Henry Hawthorn, and Sandor Preda, who will have to help make up for Kampine's depature, as well as GK Kai Yamamoto, who started 9 of the last 10 games of the season and may have secured the spot coming into 2025.  A wildcard returner is forward Rohan Dhingra, a former player at Colgate (D1), who tore his ACL, had surgery in late January 2024, transferred to Carnegie Mellon, and played 5 games/started 3 and had 2 assists in the beginning of the 2024 season before going out again (probably came back a bit too quickly).  If he can come back fully healthy this time, he might be able to contribute to the offense. 

Transfers:

Zack Moskowitz, a forward who played 45 games, starting 34, in three years at Oberlin, transfers for a grad season at CMU.  He wasn't much of a scorer for the Yeomen, but he does bring experience and some size up top.

Freshman:

8 freshman coming in.

[Kuiper]

Case Western

After finishing 10-3-4 and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2023 before falling to Cortland in PKs, Case's performance took a dip in 2024, when it finished 5-5-6.  It did reasonably out of conference, tying Denison and beating John Carroll. but it fell on its face in UAA play, going winless with 4 ties.  With that many ties, it's hard to count out Case for 2025 as many games turned on small things, but they lose some strong players.  The positive is that they have enough experience returning, plus a strong GK, to make a run if they can generate some offense. 

Key Departures:

One big loss is 2nd team All UAA and leading scorer forward Kysen Kroeger, who started every game in 2024.  Rising sophomore and second-leading scorer Amir Awais showed he can help fill Kroger's shoes though.  He scored fewer goals than Kroeger (4 v. 7), but Awais' goals came in some of the toughest games (Denison, Rochester, Wash U, and Carnegie Mellon).  The question is whether he can get adequate service considering Case loses 2nd team All UAA midfielder Lukas Dalakais, who led the team in assists.  Other regular starters or contributors who depart include midfielder Kellen Landenfield and defenders Eshwar Challa and Josh Cook.

Key Returners:

Bradley Winter was a strong presence in goal in 2024 and returns after being named 2nd team All UAA. He also gets back regular starters Cormac Apostolides, Cameron Thyer, and Phillip Washington on the back line. Case will continue to be strong defensively.  They'll need Awais and someone else, however, to step up and move the offense forward, including providing service. 

Freshman.

9 freshman.  Micah Rossen is a promising midfielder from SoCal who played several years with LAFC Academy.  He has good vision and also a crackerjack shot, but he'll probably need some time to adjust to the pace and physicality.

[Kuiper]

Brandeis

While most other teams in the UAA were down last season, Brandeis was up, finishing at 9-5-2, which was their first winning season since before the pandemic and a big turnaround from 2023 when they were 3-8-6.  They also finished 2nd in the UAA with a 5-2 record, just missing out on the auto bid to Emory after losing to them 1-0.  This doesn't look like a one year fluke either.  Most of Brandeis' offensive talent returns.  If they can make up for some losses on defense and at GK, they should be even better this season.

Key Departures:

Biggest positional loss is at goalkeeper where Quinton Wrabley graduates.  He started and played every minute of every game last season and played every minute of all but one game the season before. The player who played that 1 game in 2023 was a junior last season, but doesn't appear on the roster for 2025. Consequently, the only returning goalkeeper is a rising senior who hasn't played a minute in college.  The other regular starters graduating on defense include Christian Godhino and 2nd team All UAA player Andres Gonzalez.  On offense, the team loses 2nd team All UAA forward Eli Mones.  I assume that means he was valuable, but he only played 9 games and started 4 (scoring 3 goals) after missing 2022 and 2023.  Two of his goals were game winners, including one in the 88th minute that truly won the game for them, but he wasn't available very often, so Brandeis is already accustomed to his absence.

Key Returners:

First team All UAA midfielder Nico Beninda, who led the team in goals and assists, returns, as does 2nd team All UAA forward Maddox Yu and honorable mention All UAA players midfielder Ranier Osselman-Chai and forward Elan Romo.

Transfers:

Biggest addition to the team may be Adam Henry, a graduate goalkeeper who was at DI UMKC for two seasons, where he played 2 games in 2022 (starting 1), before transferring to U Mass Lowell, where he started 11 games in 2023, but didn't play in 2024.  Given Brandeis' need at goalkeeper, it seems like they are counting on him to contribute.

Freshman:

With so few seniors graduating, they only have 3 freshman coming on board.